Bingo game using a limited number of designations

ABSTRACT

The invention consists in a wagering game of the same kind as a bingo game characterized by the use of a set of game indicia (bingo balls) bearing the same identifications as the area identifications of the game card or cards. Furthermore, no additional game indicia bearing identification not borne by the game card are included in the set of game indicia. Furthermore, the invention consists in a method of playing said game wherein at least one player places a bet. Upon reception of said bet, the player is provided with at least one game card bearing area designations. Designations are drawn according to the rules of the game. Card areas are daubed based on a match between the drawn designations and card designations. At the end, the card is evaluated to determine whether it fulfills a winning criterion, with a prize being awarded in the case of a positive evaluation.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] This application claims benefit of U.S. Provisional ApplicationNo. 60/418,379 filed on Oct. 16, 2002 and entitled METHOD OF GENERATINGBINGO-TYPE OUTCOMES. The whole content of said application is hereinincorporated into the present application by this reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The invention relates to a method of playing a bingo game.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0003] Bingo games are well known. They involve the playing of a card bya group of players, with the players daubing card areas as correspondingballs are drawn from a blower. When a player matches a winning patternwith his daubing and claims it, he is designated the winner.

[0004] Bingo games are also played on electronic gaming apparatuses.This format usually involves that the draw of designations is limited toa single player. During the draw of a predetermined number ofdesignations, the apparatus automatically daubs the card(s) andevaluates at the end the winning patterns the cards may bear.

[0005] The format used for the designations on the cards and for thedraw are usually numbers; seventy-five (75) with forty (40) to overfifty (50) of them drawn for the latter, and seventy-five (75) withtwenty-four (24) or twenty-five (25) borne number per card. Accordingly,a good part of the drawn numbers does not participate in the game but isdrawn in vain.

[0006] Another well-known bingo is the very popular version played inthe Latino-American countries. This bingo is played in its electronicversion as follows. The player buys a participation in the game. Hereceives four bingo cards; each of which bears fifteen (15) designationswith no duplicate designations. The apparatus builds a population ofdesignations composed only of the card borne designations. Apredetermined number of designations are drawn, the cards are daubedaccordingly, and an evaluation of the cards is completed. On the basisof said evaluation, the player is awarded a prize.

[0007] Knowing the state of the art, the inventor believes that there isa need for improvement in the field of the invention.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

[0008] Accordingly, providing a faster bingo game is an object of theinvention.

[0009] Another object is to provide a game with non-stop action,independently of the designation drawn.

[0010] Another object is to provide a game where an animation is alsoalways provided when a draw of a new designation is completed.

[0011] Another object is to offer a game where players can find moreeasily the areas on the cards they have to daub.

[0012] In consequence of the above objects, the ultimate object of theinvention is to provide players with a game offering an increasedincentive, and therefore to encourage the players to play for longerperiods.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0013] To fulfill the objects listed above, the invention consists in awagering game of the same kind as a bingo game and characterized by theuse of a set of game indicia (bingo balls) bearing the same designationsas the area designations the game card(s) bear(s). Furthermore, noadditional game indicium bearing designations not borne by the game cardis included in the set of game indicia.

[0014] Furthermore, the invention consists in a method of playing saidgame wherein at least one player places a bet. Upon reception of saidbet, the player is provided with at least one game card bearing areadesignations. Designations are drawn according to the rules of the game.Card areas are daubed based on a match between the drawn designation anda card designation. During the play, according to game rules, the cardis evaluated to determine whether it fulfills a winning criterion, witha prize being awarded in the case of a positive evaluation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] These as well as other aspects and advantages of the presentinvention will become easier to understand in light of the followingdetailed description of preferred embodiments with reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which:

[0016]FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of the prior art;

[0017]FIG. 2 is a schematic representation of a game card and theassociated set of designations; while

[0018]FIG. 3 is a schematic representation of another card withduplicate designations in association with the designations used for thedetermination of the game outcome.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0019] Referring to FIG. 1, the usual components of a bingo game consistin a bingo card 10 divided in twenty-five (25) areas, in a five by five(5×5) matrix format. On top of each column is a letter 12 (B, I, N, G,and O). Each area of the card bears a designation 14, except for the onein the center corresponding to a free area 16 that is automaticallydaubed at the beginning of the game. On the other hand, there areseventy-five (75) balls 18 bearing designations with numbers varyingfrom one (1) to seventy-five (75) and associated with one of the statedletters. When a ball is drawn, the player can refer to the letter tofind the column for a faster daubing.

[0020] In comparison, the invention, as illustrated on FIG. 2, iscomposed of a game card 20 bearing designations 22 varying from A to Yand a set of balls 24 bearing the same designations. As can be seen, noball or card area bears designations not represented by the otherelement of the game. Accordingly, no draw is completed in vain.

[0021] A realization of the invention consists in a game played on anelectronic gaming apparatus. This apparatus includes a credit-relatedmeans to receive credits or credit information from the player, tomonitor these credits as the player places bets and is awarded prizes,and to redeem the player's credits these credits when needed. Theapparatus also includes a display, player input means allowing theplayer to command the apparatus, and a computing means monitoringinformation provided by the above-listed means, controlling the display,and generating the game outcome.

[0022] To play the game, the player inserts credits and places a bet,which can also be referred to as buying a card. A card is displayed tothe player or he selects a card among a series of available ones. Then,he actuates the START command. Upon reception of the START command, thecomputing means randomly selects designations to show on the apparatusdisplay. These designations are randomly selected among the designationpopulation that includes only the designations displayed on the gamecard areas. Accordingly, each time a designation is drawn from the setof designations and shown on the apparatus display, the player has atleast one area with a corresponding area designation on his card. Theplayer, or the apparatus (if it automatically completes the process),daubs (or marks in a convenient way) at least one card area each time adesignation is drawn until the last designation is drawn. When alldesignations are drawn, an evaluation of the card is completed.

[0023] Accordingly, the advantage provided by having the same volume ofdesignations for the designation set as the number of card-bornedesignations is, as stated above, to increase the speed of the game; allof the drawn designations participate in the daubing of the card.Furthermore, on an electronic gaming apparatus, an animation of daubingat least one card area is done each time a designation is drawn.

[0024] Furthermore, this modified process ensures that the player gets acard with an important number of daubed spots at the end of the process.In a typical process with seventy-five (75) designations and cards withtwenty-four (24) designations, it is not unusual for players to reachthe end of the game with only a few daubed spots while the top prizedemands all of the card areas to be daubed.

[0025] A typical alternative is to allow duplicate designations, eitherin the set of designations or on the game cards. FIG. 3 illustrates thatalternative with some designations in both sets (card designations andball designations) being duplicated 26 and 28. In consequence of thatalternative, the game is modified by the draw of designations resultingin the daubing of a plurality of card areas or a designation drawresulting in a card designation not being daubed when the samedesignation is drawn a second time.

[0026] Another alternative to the above method is to provide anelectronic bingo game that may be played in a multiple-step way if theplayer deems it desirable. A typical example of this method is to draw afirst predetermined number of designations. A daubing of the card iscompleted and the card is evaluated. If the card fulfills a winningcriterion, the player is awarded a prize. However, if the card markingdoes not fulfill a winning criterion, the player may buy a predeterminednumber of new balls if he deems it interesting. Or else, the player maystop his play and start a new one, using either the same bingo card or adifferent one. If the player succeeds to fulfill a winning criterionwith the new drawn designations in addition to the first-drawdesignations, he is awarded a prize. This latter prize value can bebased on another pay schedule, or even include different winningcriteria. In consequence, a multiple-step game is provided wherein theplayer may end his play when he deems it appropriate.

[0027] A characteristic bingo game of the present invention is toidentify the prize value in a peculiar way. Typically, a winningcriterion (or winning pattern) is associated with a predetermined prizevalue. However, due to the game volatility decreasing as the number ofused designations decreases, the prize value may differ if the winningpattern is reached within the first seven (7) designations drawn ratherthan with the tenth (10^(th)) designation. The algorithm used tocalculate the prize value may be based on the last participatingdesignations, the order of said last participating designation, the draworder of all the designations participating in said win, or whatevercriteria a game designer may judge suitable.

[0028] Accordingly, while the invention has been described in connectionwith the specific embodiment thereof and the disclosed alternatives, itwill be understood that modifications are available. It is the intent tocover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the invention following,in general, the principles of the invention. Such covered applicationswill find their essential features herein set forth in the scope of theappended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of playing a wagering game comprising: receiving a bet from at least one player; providing to said at least one player at least one game card having a plurality of areas, with all game cards bearing all designations from a first set of designations; randomly selecting designations from said first set of designations; daubing game card areas based on a match criterion between the game card designations and the selected designations; designating a winner when a player's game card fulfills a win criterion; and awarding said winner with a prize.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the number of said players playing the game is limited to
 1. 3. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one designation is duplicated on said card.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein said game card is displayed on an electronic display and said daubing is displayed on said display.
 5. The method of claim 4 wherein a single player is playing the game per electronic display on a network of said electronic displays.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein said random selection comprises selecting a predetermined number of designations that are selected for the play of said game.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein at least one further group of designations are selected in response to player input following said selection of said predetermined number of designations.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein an additional bet is required from the player for the selection of each one of said further group of designations.
 9. The method of claim 7, wherein a pay schedule used for the determination of a prize value is based on a number of designations selected and used to fulfill said win criterion.
 10. The method of claim 7, wherein a value of said prize is calculated on the basis of whether or not the designations fulfilling the win criterion are from a single group of designations.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein a value of said prize is calculated on the basis of at least one of at least one designation participating in winning said prize, and draw order of at least one designation participating in winning said prize.
 12. The method of claim 1, wherein designations are selected until said win criterion is fulfilled.
 13. The method of claim 1, wherein said steps (a) through (f) are performed sequentially in order.
 14. The method of claim 1, wherein said steps (c) and (d) are repeated for each selected designation following input from said player to continue or to stop play of the game.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein determining a play sequence based on inputs from a player creates a multiple-step game.
 16. The method of claim 3, wherein said at least one duplicated designation is different for at least some of said at least one card. 